To Cuba and Back · Chapter
XIX explained
The narrator describes a drive over the Paseo de Tacón to the Cerro, meeting the Bishop and the Count de la Fernandina, and visiting the Count's elegant villa.
What happens
The narrator describes a drive over the Paseo de Tacón to the Cerro, meeting the Bishop and the Count de la Fernandina, and visiting the Count's elegant villa. He then visits the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, noting its charity care and the presence of Sisters of Charity, and the Presidio and Grand Cárcel of Havana, where he observes the horrific conditions of the prison, the lack of rehabilitation, and the corrupt system where punishment is determined by money rather than crime.
Themes in this chapter
Colonial Oppression and Despotism
The prison system exemplifies despotism, with no rehabilitation, corruption, and punishment based on wealth.
Economic Exploitation and Sugar Monoculture
The prison's use of money to determine treatment reflects economic exploitation and class-based justice.
Religion and Moral Hypocrisy
The Sisters of Charity provide care at the hospital, contrasting with the moral decay of the prison system.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator drives over the Paseo de Tacón, meets the Bishop and Count de la Fernandina, and visits the hospital and prison.
- Dr. Howe
Dr. Howe accompanies the narrator to the hospital and prison, expresses respect for the Sisters of Charity, and reflects on his own past imprisonment.
- The Grand Seigneur
The Count de la Fernandina, a Spanish nobleman, owns a beautiful villa on the Paseo de Tacón and walks with the narrator in the grounds.
- Spaniards
Spanish noblemen in Cuba, about fifty or sixty, who have titles from civil or military service or purchased them.
- Cubans
Cuban revenues support the hospital; the prison system is described as a Cuban institution.
Key passages
“This house is very elegant and costly, with marble floors, high ceilings, piazzas, and a garden of the richest trees and flowers coming into the courtyard, and advancing even into the windows of the house.”
The villa is luxurious, featuring marble floors, tall ceilings, verandas, and a lush garden that extends into the courtyard and up to the windows.
Describes the opulence of the Count de la Fernandina's villa.
“No man, whose notions are derived from an American or English penitentiary of the last twenty years, or fifty years, can form an idea of the great Cuban prison. It is simply horrible.”
Anyone familiar with modern American or English prisons cannot imagine how awful the Cuban prison is.
Highlights the extreme horror of the Cuban prison compared to Western standards.
“The amount of money, and not the degree of criminality, determines the character of the punishment.”
Punishment is based on how much money a prisoner can pay, not on the severity of their crime.
Critique of the corrupt prison system where wealth dictates treatment.